Wisdom vs Knowledge: What’s the Difference?

By @DreamAboutAlise

Wisdom (noun): The trait of utilizing knowledge and experience with common sense and insight.

Knowledge (noun): The psychological result of perception and learning and reasoning.

It is a known fact that throughout life we learn many things. These things can be categorized by knowledge or wisdom.Whether they are facts, opinions, or theories, these things can dwell in our minds from the span of a week to an entire lifetime. Some may change our lives forever, some we may teach to our children or even our grandchildren, and some may get us no further than next week's pop quiz. But what draws the thin line between wisdom and knowledge?

Take a trip into your memory bank - have you ever come across someone who had a 4.0 GPA or higher, then spent some time with them outside of the classroom and realized they were completely oblivious to all types of common sense? There are many logical explanations to this, but a major one is because of a sheltered childhood. Having parents that suffocate you to the point that you are unable to get out of the house to learn things on your own rather than being lectured, can have a negative effect on a person's future.

In this day and age, knowledge is something that is becoming easier and easier to obtain. This is because of increase in technology, financial aid funds, racial equality, and many more advances as the years pass. But does simply memorizing facts out of a book give you true wisdom?

Wisdom comes from experience. It’s a combination of knowledge, experience, and common sense. It is easy to forget something you had once memorized, but so much harder to forget an experience you once had. It is impossible to have wisdom without knowledge, but it is possible to have knowledge without wisdom.

We all know that the older we get, the wiser we become. As we look throughout history, the wisest of our past have had many great experiences that brought them that sense of wisdom.

Don’t let a degree give you a reason to tell people you are wise. College does not teach you common sense, your experiences do.

(Edited by Shannon - @sprinkles__)